The Steinway Saga: An American Dynasty

An amazing book that holds 700 pages of riveting documentation of the German family that emigrated to NYC in 1850 to escape a crippling economy, political revolt, near starvation and high taxation. Heinrich Steinweg was preceded by his youngest son, Carl, who sailed to the New World at age 20 and returned to his family as a dove with an olive branch, heralding hope and enthusiasm for a new life in a strange land.Consider Henry Steinway (Heicrich Steinweg): as a 6 year-old boy he watched his mother and siblings die of starvation in the streets while his father and brothers were fighting in the Napoleonic war. At the age of 14 he lost his father and brothers to a bolt of lightening that struck the cabin in which they took shelter. He joined the army to avoid homelessness and learned to play the bugle. Later, taking on the trade of cabinet maker, he incorporated the inner workings of the pianoforte into his unique design. At age 53, speaking only German, he left with his wife, 4 sons (Theodore remained in Germany) and 2 daughters for America. And so began the journey from homeless orphan to the greatest legacy of piano manufacturing and the aspiration of 98% of artists in the world--the Steinway piano.The sons Albert, Charles, Carl and Theodore all worked to bring to fruition the dream of their father contributing to the technical superiority of the instrument, ultimately creating over 120 patents that have become the standard in modern piano manufacturing. The daughters Doretta and Wilhelmina enticed potential piano owners with an offer of free lessons with purchase. Steinway & Sons incorporated in 1853, only 3 years after their arrival.This book cannot help but focus on his innovative, charismatic, passionate, musical and most popular son--William Steinway. It includes 9 diaries of William spanning 35 years. It was William who brought the greatest artists to America from Europe as they toured the country endorsing the Steinway. It was William who created Steinway Village in what is now Queens and the first amusement park for Steinway's employees on the land that has become LaGuardia airport. And William who designed the first subway station, serving as head of the NY Subway Commission (there is a Steinway stop on the NY subway), William who arranged for Gottleib Daimler to come to the Steinway factory from Germany as he created the first motorized vehicle that would later become renowned as the Mercedes, and it was William who was a breath away from becoming mayor of NYC. He was the first man to drive a motorized vehicle down the (unpaved) streets of NYC; the Daimler Riding Car; and it is said that if he had not died at age 61 in 1896, he would also have headed the largest automobile manufacturing company in the world. In fact, he had his hands in so many fires that the fortune he invested and lost nearly destroyed the family and the firm. On his death bed he said, "Muß ich sterben (must I die)?" His legacy remains."The Steinway Saga" is an extraordinary book spanning 4 generations. It is absorbed in the drama and intimacy of the inner workings of the family; from adultery, to illegitimacy, to divorce, to infighting, illness and insanity. Ultimately it is a reflection of the soul of the piano that bears its name.

I've read quite a few books about Steinway pianos and the Steinway family, but this "Tolstoy-length" history delves into every nuance of the family and their rise from immigration (legal) to American royalty. Even now that the company is no longer family-owned, this book makes it clear how the Steinways were able to grow the business and hang onto it so long. Not a quick read, but a thorough one!

So glad to get an out of print book for my Steinway lover

A long book to be read unhurried and thoughtfully. The 19th c. period is an overview of commerce "red in tooth and claw." Concerns were often different but methods much the same as now, perhaps even rougher. The last 50 pages or so hits you like a waterfall of bad decisions, bad management, and incredible lack of understanding of what pianos were and are. A very rich book indeed.

Get Lieberman's book (or Susan Goldeberg's) if the subject matter interests you. If you're hungry for more Steinway lore, I suggest you read Lieberman's book again, because this one is a mess. What appears on the surface to be a well-researched biography of the Steinway family becomes an excuse for telling various sordid scandals of the day, some of which are totally unrelated to the subject matter at hand, and many of which are purely speculative on the part of the author (I cannot count the number of times the words "possibly" and "perhaps" appear in the text.)Worse yet is the author's "creative" writing style, in which every third or fourth sentence is twisted into some obscure metaphor. Every time the story threatens to take flight on its own, Fostle steps in with an inappropriate comment, awkward analogy, or meaningless statistic (he likes to count the number of days between events and the number of words within speeches.) I felt as if I were trapped in an elevator with a second-rate creative writing workshop student.Underneath all of the stylistic effluvia lies an on-again, off-again biography of William Steinway. If Fostle had simply gotten out of the way and told the story, we might have had something here. But as things stand, this is a tiring, tedious read. If you're a true Steinway aficionado, you'll probably seek this out regardless of what I've just said. Just don't say you weren't warned. If you're new to the subject matter, the true "Steinway Saga" begins and ends with Lieberman's book.